Macquarie Group, Australia's largest investment bank, said it will continue to focus on recruiting advisers within Macquarie Private Wealth (MPW) as part of its medium-term plan to beef up its Banking and Financial Services (BFS) division.
MPW has already hired a number of advisers during the last 12 months and has added four advisers since the start of 2009 across both its Auckland and Wellington offices, Macquarie BFS head Peter Maher said.
"We also see the likely regulatory changes as creating opportunities to further develop our offerings for advisers," he said.
"In an environment with an increased compliance burden, we believe advisers will be looking for partners with a strong advice brand, strong commitment to risk management and a focus on continuing to invest in technology to help advisers build better practices for the changing needs of their clients."
In addition, Macquarie BFS is focusing on businesses in India, Singapore and Hong Kong and bringing wealth management solutions to high net worth investors in these markets.
"In India, we announced a joint venture with Religare Enterprises Limited in October 2007, called Religare Macquarie Private Wealth," Maher said.
"The aim of this is to expand Religare's wealth management business, providing clients with a variety of wealth management services. Private bank offerings have also been established in Singapore and Hong Kong."
The group also continues to grow its fund offerings which cater to the high net worth and institutional segments, such as the Macquarie Pastoral Fund.
Maher added that Macquarie's BFS division is constantly looking for new opportunities to grow its business and develop strategic alliances with like-minded organisations.
His comments came as Macquarie Group chief executive Nicholas Moore yesterday said the firm had experienced improved operational performances from all its major businesses except Macquarie Capital for the June 2009 quarter compared to the previous quarter.
